Category: Paperback

Caprice De Luca Home Staging Mystery Series, Book 4
Caprice De Luca’s former client and now friend Ace Richland–an 80’s rock star–asks her for a favor. Can she quickly stage his girlfriend’s house to sell? Widow Alanna Goodwin, a transplanted Southern beauty, will be moving in with him! Immediately Caprice realizes Alanna’s southern charm can be turned on and off at will. Caprice agrees to stage Alanna’s Kismet antebellum-styled mansion for Ace’s sake. But she soon learns Alanna doesn’t have a genuine love for her cat Mirabelle and also uncovers a plot her new client is hatching to sabotage Ace’s comeback. However, before she can tell Ace, Alanna is murdered and Ace is the prime suspect.

As Caprice investigates, she learns Alanna had more secrets than pie safes. With her Cocker Spaniel Lady by her side, she tracks down clues and adopts Alanna’s cat. In the midst of some of her own family upheaval–her uncle has moved in with her parents–she finds herself with a dilemma. Grant Weatherford, her brother’s law partner, advises Ace and reveals more of his past to her. Seth Randolph, the doctor she dates, wants her to meet his family. She must choose between them.

Danger stalks Caprice. Will her refresher self-defense course save her life? Only if she keeps her wits about her and Lady by her side.

She was only seventeen when Chase Parker swept Lady Lucie Fortune Chesterfield off her royal feet. His oil magnate father cut their love affair short and forced them to annul their union…or so he thought. Ten years later, the wealthy Texas rancher uncovers a secret—he’s still wed to the one woman he’s never been able to forget!

Lucie was always “the quiet one.” While her mom and sister have been tailed mercilessly by the tabloids, she’s maintained a low profile and a gracious image. No one has ever uncovered her deep, dark secret—an impulsive teenage marriage.

When Chase tracks her down, she still finds him hard to resist. And as they prepare to untie the wedding knot, Lucie wonders: What if their biggest mistake was saying goodbye?

Caprice De Luca’s latest house staging is all about hearts, flowers, lace and chintz since Valentine’s Day is around the corner. She never expects her client to be murdered in the greenhouse the day of the open house.

With her six-month-old pup Lady by her side and her own love life in disarray, Caprice ferrets out clues from the victim’s best friend, Caprice’s mother, the housekeeper and a special male friend who insists his relationship with the victim was platonic. However, as Caprice digs deeper, she finds the victim’s past is filled with secrets that she kept from her husband for thirty years.

The past isn’t merely history. The present isn’t always what it seems. When hearts are involved, passion and even murder aren’t far behind.

Book 2 in Karen Rose Smith’s Caprice De Luca cozy mystery series.
Quiet Kismet, Pennsylvania, may look like any other small town, but as a home stager, Caprice De Luca can see behind closed doors–and it seems someone has designs on murder. . .Life is a full house for Caprice these days. She’s dating, she’s rescuing adorable cocker spaniels, and she’s decorating the roomy interiors of Kismet’s most well-heeled residents with fun fantasy themes. But she’s worried about her pregnant sister. Bella’s marriage is coming apart like a bad wallpaper job, and to make matters worse, she’s decided to meet up with a former flame Bob Preston, a house painter Caprice frequently employs. When he’s found dead in a pool of green paint swirling with blood, it’s time for Caprice to stage an investigation. With all eyes trained on Bella’s husband, Caprice shifts her attention from finding the perfect curtains to finding the perfect culprit.

An only child, I've always delved into books as an escape. But as part of a large Italian family, I had cousins and relatives around me often. Families are a strong theme in my novels, both mysteries and romances.